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Charlie Gard will be moved to hospice for final hours: Judge

Posted at 10:38 PM, Jul 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-27 22:38:25-04

LONDON — Charlie Gard, the terminally ill baby at the center of a bitter legal battle that has garnered global attention, is to have his life support treatment withdrawn.

A UK High Court judge has ruled that Charlie should be moved from Great Ormond Street to a hospice, where he will “inevitably” die within a short period.

The timing of the move and the location of the hospice are private, according to Judge Nicholas Francis’s court order.

Charlie suffers from mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, an rare degenerative condition which has left him with irreversible brain damage and a loss of motor skills.

His parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, clashed with doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Charlie has been cared for for months, over whether or not to stop treating him.

On Monday the couple ended a long-running fight to take their son to the US for experimental treatment after doctors ruled it would not help him.

Connie Yates and Chris Gard, the parents of 11-month-old Charlie Gard, are dropping their request for the terminally-ill infant to die at home, a UK court heard on Wednesday, July 26, 2017.

But they remained in dispute with the hospital over when and where the 11-month-old should die.

The couple had hoped to bring their son home for his final days, but gave up on that wish earlier this week.

The court order revealed that Gard and Yates continued to pursue avenues for bringing their son home, even after the final court hearing in the case on Thursday.